The goal of this program is to continue to provide broad-based interdisciplinary cancer research training for five predoctoral and five postdoctoral fellows. Trainees funded by this program will work with two faculty members whose complementary research interests lie in basic sciences, clinical research or population based sciences. In order to obtain funding through this training grant, fellows must submit research proposals relevant to the etiology or treatment of cancer that draw upon expertise found in two or more disciplines. Applications are judged on the research project, cancer relevance, interdisciplinary training potential and the applicants' qualifications. This training program is the centerpiece of an initiative in interdisciplinary cancer research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC) and the University of Washington (UW). The long-term goal is to increase the pool of investigators who have training and expertise in cross-disciplinary applications of the rapidly expanding knowledge base in biomedical science relevant to cancer and other human diseases. The research experience will be supported by training in grant and manuscript writing, monthly interdisciplinary research meetings, a wide variety of seminars and informal group meetings. Trainees will meet annually with the grant Steering Committee and present their work annually at a research colloquium. The Steering Committee will also meet annually with mentors and monitor the interdisciplinary training components. An additional component of this program is support of predoctoral students who will obtain an M.S. degree in Epidemiology, concurrent with their Ph.D. training in a basic science. A formal Dual Degree program has been established at UW to allow this interdisciplinary training in an efficient manner. Trainees will be recruited both from the pool of pre- and postdoctoral trainees presently working at the two institutions, as well as from trainees who apply to this innovative program through mailings, informational booths at national meetings, and our web site. RELEVANCE: This interdisciplinary training program will increase the pool of cancer researchers with a broad knowledge of the causes and treatments of cancer using basic science, clinical and epidemiological tools. Such well trained scientists will be well poised to make breakthroughs in the eradication of this deadly disease.